Music Producer and Engineer

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: One of the projects I like was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHT7YBe-yqo I produced it and performed, it was a minor underground hit and I still get emails about it to this day. Almost everything is analog, it feels very true and real.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm finishing an album for Guy a Michel (Spotify, apple..) he does an incredible mix of EDM, World Music and Cello. Another project is some children songs but like Gwen Stefani style for a celebrity tv anchor here in Miami, I'm loving that project but its top secret for now. I'm also preparing some demos to pitch to some A&Rs next month.

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: yes, If you've got the money there are some heavyweights!!! If you can't afford them, I can definitely give you the best price/quality ratio.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Analogital !!! whatever works for THAT song.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: a track they will love!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: When that music we are making gets to the people. That's very satisfying

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: Sometimes they ask me about how to send the track, different audio formats. Technical stuff. Don't worry, I got it covered.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: That people don't hear the difference between great and mediocre mixes, productions, songs, etc and yes.. they do.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: what music are you listening to? how did this song came to be? where do you want to play this music?

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: We are doing art. So you have to like what this person is offering you. Let him o her be a part of the process, not only an engineer, producer, or musician but an artist. Short story: In the middle of the recording of my bands album, in the song that we thought was the hit (it wasn't;t, the hit was a cumbia!) the Drum Doctor, a guy we where paying just to make the drums sound cool, made a suggestion of erasing to bars of the tack, we did it and the song was 100% better.

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: Computer, monitors, the Apollo, a midi controller and a mic. But I think the computer might be more than enough.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I was 20 when I decided that I was only going to make money working with sound and music. That's a great decision, unless you live in a third world country with almost no music industry lol! So during this last decade my career path was very very eclectic. From composing OST for tv and theater, to producing and recording artists, being a guitar session player, teaching music production. Just anything that came my way. When I studied recording and mixing I did it for myself to have that skill as a musician. Eventually I started having people ask me to do it more and more, so now it's a big part of my career along with producing tracks.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I'm very proud of not having 1 Style. For me every project starts from scratch, it is total discovery. I don't like being tied to formulas I'm always looking for the future.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: J Balvin. He is a visionary.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Limit the number of different plugins per song. So instead of using 10 different compressors try using 2 or 3. That gives a lot of cohesion to the sound of a track.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: Since moving to Miami I'm working a lot on Latin Urban (Reggaeton-Trap) & EDM. Previously I was doing more pop and also composing a lot of classical contemporary works.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I always gonna find a way.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I love many types of music, so I'm very good at bringing some out of the box elements to the process. Also, I give a hand with harmony and arrangements that many artists really appreciate.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: First I want to talk to the artist and understand what they are all about. I'm gonna set up the session and listen to the rough and see what's the track telling me. Then I mix. I use to have a fixed process: like first gain staging, eq, dynamics... now its more like free jazz... At the end of the day the mix has to be ready. I'll listen to it again the next day with fresh ears and in different systems. Then I'll send it to the artist for corrections should there be any.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Oh man! so I was growing up in argentina, its very difficult to get hardware there. So I got use to that guerrilla style of woking with what you got, old computers, pirate software (don't tell shh), old sound cards, mics! I guess all of that was important for me. Since selling everything and moving to Miami I got a Zen approach. Few things, top quality and updated (and legal) software. I have a nice treated room watching Miami Beach. New iMac with Ableton being the daw of choice. Universal audio interface and plugins really do make a difference. I've got two pairs of monitors. Finally, I do use some outboard gear, guitar pedals, neves 511, dbx 560a, some vintage stuff (currently experimenting a lot with cassette decks).

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Pharrell and Tainy are my go to producers. Jaycen Joshua and Manny Marroquin are my favorite mixers. Quincy Jones is my absolute inspiration.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: Right now my most common work is mixing with production value. Which means sometimes artist send me songs that may not be finished or that they would like to make longer or different. I produce it and then mix it and sometimes master it so they are ready for streaming.